Tennis ball

ABSTRACT

This new tennis ball is provided with a surface comprised of flocked nylon fibers disposed normal to the ball and in spaced apart relationship throughout their length. This surface may be attached directly to the conventional hollow rubber core or it may be attached to a substrate of rubber or plastic which is then cut into conventional figure eight shapes for attachment to the conventional hollow rubber cores.

United States Patent [19. Henry 1 51 Sept. 9, 1975 1 1 TENNIS BALL [76]Inventor: Dana R. Henry, 200 W Mason St.,

No. 14, Santa Barbara, Calif. 93101 [22] Filed: Apr. 29, 1974 [21] Appl.No: 464,989

[52] US. Cl. 273/61 R; 273/61 B [51] Int. Cl. A6313 39/06; A63B 41/10[58] Field of Search 273/61, 58

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,952,063 9/1960 Bukaldcrset al. 273/61 R 3,039,773 6/1962 Tceguarden et a1. 273/61 R FOREIGNPATENTS OR APPLICATIONS United Kingdom 273/61 R 220,194 12/1958Australia 273/61 B 209,555 7/1957 Australian 273/61 B 901,078 10/1944France 273/61 R Primary Examiner-George J. Marlo Attorney, Agent, orFirml\lay1or, Neal & Uilkema [57] ABSTRACT This new tennis ball isprovided with a surface comprised of flocked nylon fibers disposednormal to the ball and in spaced apart relationship throughout theirlength. This surface may be attached directly to the conventional hollowrubber core or it may be attached to a substrate of rubber or plasticwhich is then cut into conventional figure eight shapes for attachmentto the conventional hollow rubber cores.

1 Claim, 3 Drawing Figures TENNIS BALL Among the objects and advantagesof the invention are the following, There is provided a tennis ballwhich is essentially non-varying as to weight because of thenonhydroscopic nature of the surface as compared to the hydroscopic woolsurface presently employed. The subject ball tends to have a constantcontour whereas with the conventional balls the wool surface feltseasily and unevenly Also, as compared to the conventional ball the oneof the present invention is less subject to soiling and gathering dirtand is more resistant to wear and therefore is less prone to loss indiameter as a result of extensive play. The subject flocked nylon coatedball in comparison of the present wool covered one tends to be somewhatless restrained in flight by air drag and somewhat less slowed by bouncedue to frictional engagement, Also, the subject ball with its flockednylon coating is more readily clean-able and is also somewhat betterbalanced due to evenness in length and weight of the nylon fibers incomparison with unevenness in length and weight of the wool fibers ofthe conventional tennis balls.

A preferred embodiment of the tennis ball of the invention is shown inthe drawing, in which:

FlG. 1 is a view in elevation of the ball;

FIG, 2 is an enlarged view such as one taken on lines 2 2 of FIG. 1; and

FIG, 3 is a view in perspective of a partially assembled ball.

Referring to the drawing wherein there is shown as preferred embodimentof the tennis ball of the subject invention, the ball comprises a rubberball body or core 12, a substrate 14 of rubber or plastic secured to thecore 12, and a flocked fiber surface indicated generally at 16 andcomprising nylon fibers l8 and crimped textile fibers 20. The fibers 18and 20 are positioned relative to substrate 14 by well-knownelectrostatic flocking techniques and are adhesively secured to theouter surface of substrate 14, as by epoxy adhe sives. The crimpedfibers 20, as for example the fiber product made in Sweden and marketedunder the trademark ELASTON, are approximately onehalf as long as thenylon fibers 16. When the ball is in play, the fibers l8 and 20 willinter-engage each other and felt. The fibers 18 and 20 are attached bythe de scribed flocking technique at a angle to the outer surface ofsubstrate 14 and these fibers are not attached to each other above theouter surface of substrate 14.

The flocked nylon fibers should be of a sufficiently high denier count,e.g. 60, to provide a dense, velvety ball cover, By nylon" fibers ismeant nylon or other suitable or equivalent fibers A satisfactorymaterial for a plastic version of the substrate 14 is polyvinylchloride.

As indicated in FIG, 3, the flocked surface 16 is applied to thesubstrate 14 while the latter is in the flat, and thereafter the figureeight pieces are cut out and applied and secured to the rubber ballcore, as shown. The two figure eight pieces may be of different colors,cg. white and yellow, white and orange, black and white, and so forth,thereby making the flight of the ball easier for the players to follow,

The described ball has the advantages which are described above in theinitial part of this application,

Instead of having the substrate 14, the substrate can be eliminated andthe fibers, as described, can be attached by electrostatic flockingdirectly to the rubber ball core 12. The resulting ball would then haveno cover or substrate for the rubber ball core and it would have noseams,

What is claimed is:

l. A tennis ball comprising a resilient core and a coating connected tothe core, said coating comprising nylon fibers disposed normal to saidcore and in spaced apart relation to each other throughout their length.

1. A tennis ball comprising a resilient core and a coating connected tothe core, said coating comprising nylon fibers disposed normal to saidcore and in spaced apart relation to each other throughout their length.